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Fig. 2 | BMC Research Notes

Fig. 2

From: Novel unconditioned prosocial behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) as a model for empathy

Fig. 2

(confocal images were taken with the permission and generosity of Dr. Troy Ghashghaei at NCSU)

Results suggest that prairie voles will engage in unconditioned empathic contact and that number of OT and possibly AVP expressing neurons in the PVN is consistent with the pattern of empathic behavior, while the number of DA expressing neurons is consistent with overall exploratory behavior. a Seconds of Novel Social Test: “−” indicates significant paired difference, and “*” indicates significant difference between males and females (P < 0.05, males n = 9, females n = 22). b Two dimensional histogram of behavior durations, in seconds, for males (left) and females (right), in which each row is a separate behavioral measure, as indicated by the y-axis, and each column represents a single animal. c Neurons in PVN: Different letters indicate significant differences within sex, and “*” indicates significant difference between males and females (P < 0.05, OT and AVP males and females n = 11, TH males and females n = 7). d Posterior PVN TH-ir: Low magnification image represents of the posterior sub-region of the PVN in which TH-ir neurons were observed at low magnification scale bar 100 µm (left image). Medial PVN OT-ir and AVP-ir: Low magnification image represents the medial sub-region of the PVN in which OT-ir and AVP-ir neurons were observed at low magnification (right image)

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